~2.5 minute read.
Rebecca Ackland is an experienced people and culture leader and has had a successful career at SCA including key roles within Talent Acquisition, People Operations and most recently as People and Culture Manager. Rebecca passionately champions SCA’s award-winning culture, ensuring SCA places their people and values at the core of what they do every day.
As Chief People and Culture Officer, Rebecca is responsible for the company’s people and culture strategy and execution and leads a team of experienced executives across specialities of Talent, HR Operations, Capability & Learning as well as People Services.
Join us as Rebecca shares stories of workplace courage.
How would you describe workplace courage?
Workplace courage is the ability to take action with a special kind of calculated risk. A courageous employee makes decisions whilst managing uncertainty and demonstrates vulnerability in being their true self. It involves stepping up to the plate, trusting your colleagues and having the voice to demonstrate integrity in everything you do.
What does courage look like in your workplace?
Courage is one of our 5 values so we have acknowledged courage as a core driver of performance and culture for many years.
We are very fortunate at SCA that our people are creative and passionate about the work they do. Our people aren’t afraid to bring their authentic selves to work and they perform at their best by being open and vulnerable with their peers, clients and ultimately our listeners.
At SCA, courage also presents itself in the way the business is adapting to the ever changing face of the media industry through our digital transformation strategy. Launching a product like LiSTNR during the pandemic was a courageous decision that is now fast securing itself as the ultimate audio destination for Australians – so a courageous decision that is paying off.
Workplace courage is the ability to take action with a special kind of calculated risk.
Courage is also a core management competency at SCA that we both develop internally and hire in. Our managers use courage to make bold decisions and establish influence within their team. Our creative functions use courage to be innovative and develop out of the box strategies for our clients and engaging content for our listeners. Our courageous sales representatives are brave and vulnerable in understanding client needs and establishing trusted connections.
Please describe 1-2 examples in which you have been courageous. What did you do? Who/what enabled you to be courageous? What was the outcome?
I had a very embarrassing public speaking moment a couple of years ago where I became light headed and had to run off stage in front of a room full of people at a conference. Like most HR professionals at the onset of COVID, I was exhausted, not looking after myself, and that day my body gave up on me at the worst of all times!
I left the room and was tempted never to return again, it took a lot courage to get out of bed the next day and face the group again.
But you know what? I did it – and my moment of weakness and vulnerability in front of all those people sparked about 10 different conversations where people opened up about how exhausted and overwhelmed they were. So many people used the opportunity to confide in me about their own struggles and reach out for help.
What I thought of as a moment of weakness, for others became a moment of familiarity and humanity that they found comfort in.
I try to remember the strength I found that day in courage and vulnerability.
What I thought of as a moment of weakness, for others became a moment of familiarity and humanity that they found comfort in.
From your point of view, to what extent are Australia’s leaders leading with courage?
I think that navigating how much our day to day lives have changed is requiring us to call on more courage than we ever have before. There are now so many unknowns and uncertainties that we all face every day. Most of us got used to juggling home and work in a totally new way, many of us became more present at home and are now being required to refocus our attentions back in offices. Many of us are concerned about the state of the world internationally and then also our personal health and the health of our families on a day to day basis. Shaping a new path forward that takes the best bits of pre-covid and manages post-covid life as best we can requires a hell of a lot of courage.
If you’d like to continue this conversation with Rebecca you can contact her via email: Rebecca.Ackland@sca.com.au
Rebecca’s words of familiarity and humanity resonate strongly with me. It is something that we all can keep reminding ourselves of – while we are all unique and diverse, we are one common humanity … and as one common humanity, anything is possible.
I always come away from conversations with Bec with renewed thinking and perspectives. I hope you have enjoyed this interview as much as I did. Bec, thank you for being a part of our courage community.
@CourageChick
Leading with courage 